More on our visit to Seoul

Today is another sea day. We are crossing the Yellow Sea on the way back to Shanghai, minus eight passengers who failed to return to the ship on time. Because of the tides, it was imperative that we departed by a certain time so the ship could fit under the very long bridge across the bay. Everyone was made fully aware of this, but perhaps these people were amongst those who do not read the bulletins or listen to the announcements. One can only imagine the look of horror on their faces when they arrived at the port, an hour’s drive from Seoul, only to discover that the ship had gone! (The ship did wait an extra half an hour for them.)

Most people had little sympathy for them, but I cannot help but wonder how they have managed. The ship personnel keep all our passports in their safes, so these people would have been stranded in the port without their passports, and there would be no way they could leave Korea or enter Shanghai without them. One can only hope that they had the sense to carry with them the emergency information we are given at every port, which includes the contact details of the ship’s representative in that port, and could be helped to fly to Shanghai to meet the ship. Meanwhile, where did they sleep? Did they have credit cards with them? And they only had the clothes they were standing in.  

As it is, they will be in trouble without Chinese visas. Those of us who did not independently obtain Chinese visas can only go ashore on an official shore excursion. I only ever go on one in any case, because the ship will never leave without a group that is on an official shore excursion. 

Over this morning I have been thinking back on our visit to Seoul and the hundreds of mostly pale grey tall apartment blocks. My first photo in my previous post was a view looking up at a couple  from the bus window. I don’t remember seeing any children’s playgrounds or gardens. or even shopping malls. We did see a walking track alongside the freeway, with people often just walking along the path or stopping at exercise stations along the track. With all the smog from China, and the fumes from all the motor vehicles, I cannot imagine that it would be all that healthy breathing in all that toxic air. But I am concerned about the emotional health and wellbeing of the children, if they are confined to playing in a high-rise building and do not know the joy of lovely parks and gardens. In winter, they would be even more confined. As it was, when we were there, most trees had no foliage on them, so it was a rather barren landscape. On top of that, there is the anxiety that must be generated in their tense political situation.

However, I did have some light relief from all these musings. Apart from the hilarity of tales told at our breakfast table, I went to another lecture by the English historian, who told us tales about the making of period dramas and the booboos and made, such a pair of old sneakers that could be seen amongst the shoes in the film about Marie Antoinette and a bottle of water accidentally left on the mantlepiece between antique ornaments in Downton Abbey. Then there is the ‘mermaid’ hair (as she called it) in films such as 'Poldark'. In this TV series,  Poldark’s wife has the most beautiful long red hair, but our historian assured us that no women wore loose locks those days, because of all the open fires and candles around. They wore caps! She said that the film-makers choose to ignore that to make the characters look sexier, just as they use leather jackets on men for times in which they were not worn, or show them with bare chests, so the men seem more ‘manly’.  What can one say to that? 

I tried sending this blog an hour ago but the photos suddenly froze on me. I will try again to send them when we reach Shanghai.